


In the Miles of Memory

by windandthestars



Series: Call It Your 2.0 (So Level Up and Love Again) [1]
Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 01:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windandthestars/pseuds/windandthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not something they talk about, he and Mac and the nightmares that still trouble her sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Miles of Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Vienna Teng's Close to Home.
> 
> AU mostly because this was written before 2.09 aired.

When Will wakes up he knows three things. One, he's as sore as fuck. Two, he's going to have to find some way to explain the dent in the ceiling he's currently staring at. Telling Mac he put it there while watching a football game when he was supposed to be cleaning out the fridge wasn't going to end favorably. Three, whoever is in his bed better have a damn good reason for being there because MacKenzie's right, his couches may be well suited for his extracurricular activities but they're total hell to sleep on.

While he hasn’t verified this, he’d passed out as soon as he’d seen Mac out, he's pretty sure it's Sloan in his bed. He had promised to float her money for a cab and while that's not something he normally does, it's Sloan and he's not about to make her take a bus home at 2 am. Sloan, however, had disappeared in the time it had taken him to track down his wallet, and while that doesn’t say much about how much he had to drink last night, he knows that probably means that it's Sloan who's asleep in his bed and not MacKenzie.

He doesn't customarily wake his guests, particularly the morning after a party, but he's not about to cook this one breakfast, not when he wants to call MacKensie and make sure she got home alright last night. He wants to do a little more than that, but he's not going to get into it with himself when she's not here and all he wants to do is yell at her for fucking spoiling him. 

"Sloan." He taps on the half open door and then abandons any pretense of politeness. He's not trying to be rude, but it's Sloan and he knows she'll understand if he is. They're keeping things quiet around the office but he knows Sloan knows that Mac's late night visits have evolved into something more than him coaxing her to sleep in his bed then passing out on his couch.

It's some sort of horrible cliché, but he knows Sloan doesn't mind that either, so he pushes the door open, and stops short. He'd been contemplating the fastest way to usher Sloan out of his apartment without her being able to get a word in otherwise, what he sees hadn't even crossed his mind.

"Kenzie said you wouldn't mind if I borrowed one of your shirts. I thought it was probably a bad idea but I didn't want to ruin the dress. It's expensive. Something Kenzie picked up. I wasn't sure what to do about the wrinkles and you don't care about that." Sloan stops with a comical half shrug that makes him wonder if maybe one or both of them is still a little bit drunk.

It's an odd scene. The sight of Sloan in one of his t-shirts, hair loose around her face, chin propped on a squished up pillow isn't unexpected, it's the sight of Mac curled up beside her that had caused him to stop.

She’d obviously woken herself up at some point during the night, the blankets hastily drawn back onto the bed bore that out. She's asleep now, Sloan's fingers running patiently through her hair, but there are still signs of her tears in her red rimmed eyes.

"She didn't want to wake you." Sloan sounds apologetic about this and for the life of him he can't understand why. He wouldn't have minded being woken up, the fact that his sleep had been uncomfortable but uninterrupted was nice, but he would never complain about being curled up next to MacKenzie even if it was just so he could hold her while she shook.

It's not something they talk about, he and Mac and the nightmares that still trouble her sleep. It had taken her months to admit to Jim that they hadn't stopped once they had left the Middle East, and even then he knew she preferred to pretend they didn't exist.

"They're getting better. I think." Sloan whispers like she's read his mind and he sighs squinting at her a bit.

"I didn't hear anything."

"I woke her up." Sloan doesn't seem as confused by this as he is. "She woke me up and-" she pauses for a moment as he processes this. He's pretty sure it's some sort of miracle that Sloan hadn't ended up with a black eye or some nasty scratches, but he can see the merits in her line of thought. "She said once you liked to sing her to sleep. I don't do that. I told her about the bank bailout. I know she already knows but she always says it's all a bunch of white noise once I get going so I thought, well it was worth a shot."

"You bored her back to sleep." Will can't resist the barb and he's glad to see the corners of Sloan's eyes crinkle. 

Beside her Mac's feet press down into the mess of blankets at the end of the bed and Sloan smooths her hand over the side of Mac's face. "Go back to sleep. It's still early and I'm running out of things to talk about unless you want to hear about the romcom it watched last weekend, which I know you don't, so go back to sleep so Will can make us breakfast."

Mac mutters something that sounds a whole lot like his name, but she’s fallen back to sleep before he can reach the bed.

"So, breakfast."

"I thought it was worth a shot." Voice still pitched low and soothing, the grin that spreads across her face makes it clear she knows exactly what she's doing. "Kenzie says you make a mean eggs Benedict."

"I'll see what I can do." He's grumbling now and he knows that he shouldn't be, but he's never known quite what to do with Sloan when she gets cocky and now is no exception.

"I'll leave once she's up." Sloan's promise is quiet as he moves back toward the hall. "I know Saturdays are kind of your day, so I'll go but I'd love-"

"Stay." He waves her off. "MacKenzie- She didn't have to ask you to stay last night but she did. Stay for breakfast and she'll tell you what to do about that dress of yours."

"OK, but next time don't spend the night on the couch, it makes you cranky."

"I don't think-" he starts to say and then stops himself. "Next time make sure Mac doesn't fall asleep in her dress. She's not going to let it go all morning."


End file.
